Kantai Collection - Born from Parchment
by Craterkhan
Summary: When the poor destroyer girl Akizuki washes up onto an abandoned island, she despairs. Heavily damaged, dehydrated, and starving, it seems like the end for her. But what she finds on the island may alter the course of the Abyssal War and swing the tide heavily in favor of the Kanmusu. Do the Abyssals have a response to the power she awakens? (WARNING:Might get extremely graphic)
1. Chapter 1

**(I honestly have no idea why I began writing this story. The random thought just came to me and I feel like I have to write it down now. I don't expect this story to be any good, but as a plot line comes to me I will add on to it. It is my first time writing a Kancolle Fanfic, so I hope it's at least somewhat enjoyable.)**

 **Chapter 1: 797**

"Wh-where am I?"

The girl blinked her eyes. She was staring at the clouds, feeling like they were looking back at her as if she were something to be swallowed up. She craned her head up for she was lying on her back sprawled out in a rather awkward position. Her two turrets were lying across her lap sleeping. She smiled as best she could. They had clearly been trying to wake her, though considering that she was unconscious for what appeared to be quite a long time going by her parched throat and grumbling stomach, that failed. The girl was not much to look at. Her serafuku was shredded and her neck guard had a large crack across the front. Her neckerchief was tattered and her hair was a tousled mess. Dried blood from infected cuts coated her skin in many places and a lump was still prominent on her forehead. Most of her remaining clothing was slightly damp.

This was destroyer girl Akizuki.

She sat up slowly trying not to cause more damage to herself. Her body was wracked with pain and she gritted her teeth. Her muscles had locked up from being still for so long and having spent an inordinate amount of time lying across her broken rigging didn't help her case. She took a look beside her. Her two turret mounts had been heavily damaged and two of her four torpedo tubes had been damaged beyond repair. Three of her spare barrels for her turrets were missing entirely from her leg holster. Her turrets then shuddered and she put a hand on both of them. They were beginning to wake. Both of them looked pretty bad, with metal dented in many places. They blinked their eyes and looked at Akizuki, chittering with delight at seeing their master awake.

"Hey you guys made it." Said Akizuki. She knew they couldn't respond in a meaningful way. In a sense they were much like dogs, but they understood her. She patted them both and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She had washed up on the shore of an island from her point of view, and yet the rather fast-moving water was a murky grey despite the sun illuminating the island from a hole in the cloud cover. Brown rocks were scattered across the dust colored beach and when she looked behind her, she found large grey cliffs rising behind her, with a heavily beaten and forbidding path leading up into the rocks. There was no flora or fauna to be seen. Even most sounds found on a beachside like the whistling of the wind or the rolling of the waves seemed almost muted to her. The whole entire area appeared to be dead.

"How did I get here?" She asked to empty space. She tried to remember how she had gotten here and failed. Her head was a whirl of pain and emotions and thinking was difficult. She struggled to stand up and fell down a few times much to her turrets dismay. But on her fourth try she managed to keep herself up. She looked to either side of her. The beach she had washed up on was not all that large. It was bordered by what appeared to be impassable rocks. Looking at herself, there was no way she was going to be able to make it out to sea and back home. Even if she didn't collapse from pain her engine unit was barely functioning. Not only that, she didn't know where she was, so it was impossible to plot a course home. She was lucky to even have washed up on this island. For a brief moment, she wondered if she was going to be trapped here.

Her stomach rumbled. Akizuki felt an new all encompassing weariness wash over her as she realized she was really hungry. Reaching back behind her funnel, she opened the emergency hatch and pulled out a bag that contained a nutrient block, a packet of water, a flint and steel, and a small piece of parchment with an attached pencil. All shipgirls had a hatch like this that was in a hard to reach area. It was put there for exactly this event of being washed up on shore and needing some essential things to survive. However the officers who made the rule probably didn't take into account being washed up in a place like this. At least most islands have some sort of flora. She nibbled the block and drank in small bursts to soothe her parched throat, being careful not to drink too much while checking over her gear.

"I lost a tank of fuel, this isn't good." She despaired. One of two tanks of fuel that she kept equipped in case her turrets needed an energy boost was missing. The other one was only half filled. She immediately assumed her turrets had taken some, which was ok. They were not stupid and they wouldn't waste resources in a situation like this. She was going to have to ration what she had left. Given her situation, things were not looking good. Very little food and water with no way to obtain more and two turrets who would need fuel soon. Akizuki resolved to explore the beach, with her turrets following behind her. As she walked, she felt some of her strength return. The beach was in fact, very small, and there was no way to really get out of it. And she didn't have the energy to swim around the island.

Her only option was to follow the path that lead into the cliffs. It seemed unusual to her that there was such a path on an island like this, but at this point a path meant there may be either animals or people. She would be grateful to accept either. Doing her best not to trip on anything that would lead to a fatal fall, destroyer girl Akizuki stumbled down the path. The scenery didn't change much at all as she moved. Just barren wasteland comprised of nothing except dirt and rocks. Steep cliffs still bordered either side of path and as she traveled down it, the path became more rugged before it began to twist violently. At one point she had to squeeze between two rocks to follow it, which added to her growing list of pain problems. The cliffs were becoming high enough to block out the majority of the sun's rays. Akizuki felt swallowed up by the cliffs, like she was descending into the depths of the Earth. But there was light up ahead. And what she found was quite interesting.

She had popped out into a small open crater. It was still just as barren as the rest of the island seemed to be, but there was a large H painted on the ground in faded yellow. Other than that, the crater was empty.

Unless you didn't discount the huge solid metal doors set into the cliffside.

They were painted the same color as the surrounding terrain and Akizuki didn't notice them at first. These were not fancy doors, and one was pushed in, providing an opening into the underground facility it led to. Cold fear pulsed through Akizuki's veins. It looked like something straight out of a horror movie. Darkness seemed to flow out from behind the doors, threatening to engulf her and drag her down. Mustering up enough courage in her little heart, she peeked into the gap. A dark staircase led down into the facility.

"You'll protect me right?" She said to her Chou-chan's, which looked at her and gave her their best nod. "Good." And with that, she stepped into the facility. It was quiet. The air was stale and it felt thick in her lungs. She turned on her one surviving searchlight, which flickered before popping on. The staircase didn't lead down far, and it was connected to a hallway. She crept forward, not eager to make any noise should there be something here although she doubted there was. She felt like the hallway stretched on forever.

Then she arrived at a door, or at least what was left of it.

More like a hatch than anything, the steel door had a hole twice the size of a grown man punched through the middle of it. She stepped through it, cutting herself on a jagged piece of metal and she silently swore. The room on the other side of the door was unlike any room she had seen before. Her light cast a dismal glare on the scene There were lab benches and broken equipment scattered across the floor. Damaged tables revealed torn and faded parchment. Lights hung broken from the ceiling. Dried blood was abundant, painted in droves across the floor, walls, and the furniture.

And there were skeletons.

Human skeletons.

They appeared to be everywhere, and not all in one piece. She found bones littered everywhere, all colored grey with the dust of age. Some of the skeletons were covered with torn cloth that was white once, but had been reduced to shredded material, tainted the color of dark blood blood.

"What is this place?" Akizuki asked her Chou-chan's. They were holding onto her legs with their fins, looking up at her with scared expressions. Nothing felt right in this place. The only things she could hear was the sound of moving water and a faint hum. Hydroelectricity? It made sense. She had already observed earlier the current surrounding the island. Whoever built this place wanted to make the most of the environment. She found a lightswitch and flicked it on. Only one light blinked on, and it flickered with the desire to extinguish itself, but it cast a better glow than her searchlight. The people that were here before her were clearly scientists and engineers. God only knew how long it had been since they died. There was no tissue left on the skeletons, so it had to have been at least 10 years or so since they died. She picked up some pieces of torn parchment with writing on them. It was written in Japanese thank heavens.

And she gasped.

Though the writing was faded and smudged, she could make out some drawings with annotations on the sides.

The drawings were of Kanmusu.

She couldn't make out much more than that. The weaponry and finer details had been lost to old age, but she could read the titles of the pages.

"Owari-type, Kazusa-type…" She hesitated before setting the pages back down. Right now was not the time for investigation, she had to find either a way off the island or at least a way to survive. She looked around. Three doors led out from the main room in the three cardinal directions, each one having a similarly sized hole to the one she just came through blown through it. Each one had a sign over it.

 _Living Quarters_

 _Research, Testing Room, Powerplant_

 _Cells_

Akizuki chose living quarters first, hoping that there would be a clue as to what happened to everyone. There wasn't much to find here. Several rooms were connected by hallways, leading into a mess hall, a kitchen, and sleeping quarters for both men and women with bathroom's for each. The same scene as the entrance room was repeated in each of the other rooms, with blood staining almost every surface and long dead skeletons draped over furniture or sprawled out on the floor. Someone had obviously found this place and disliked what was going on here. The only things of value she found was more nutrient blocks and packets of sealed water. She said a silent thanks to the gods. She wasn't going to starve to death or die of dehydration soon. Now that she had this, she consumed the remainder of the nutrient block and packet of water she had opened. While pain still flared in areas of her body, her strength was coming back and she was able to think more clearly. There were first aid kits here as well and though they were old, the bandages and disinfectant was still usable. She poured some over her dried cuts and then bandaged them as best she could. She was no repair ship, so it was rather shoddy work, but it would hold.

Once she had finished tending to herself, she gathered up her newfound belongings and put them in an empty blood soaked cloth bag that was on the floor next to a dining table, giving a silent thanks to those who were here before her. She exited the living quarters and chose the second door, Research, Testing Room, Powerplant. This door led to a hallway that connected to three rooms. There were four, but the passage leading to the Testing Room had caved in. Silently, she swore again, wishing to know what was behind the rocks that now blocked her path. The other two rooms proved to be extensive laboratories, which contained significantly more lab equipment then the room she entered the facility from. There were medical chairs and beds as well as a disturbing amount of surgical tools. There was a chair that still had skeletal remains strapped into it. Akizuki felt her stomach churn as she looked at the skeleton, which looked back at her with as long of an expression as a skeleton can manage. She turned and left the room quickly, not eager to sear anymore images of dead people into her mind.

The powerplant room held an interesting surprise.

Along with all the other skills they taught in Kanmusu school, students were also taught the same information and material that regular people were taught. Supposedly this was to help integrate the shipgirls into society better after the Abyssal war was over. This of course, failed. Shipgirls were just too different from normal humans to fit in properly. And still the war marched on, so opportunities for interaction were few and far between. But they had the same basic knowhow that humans had. Akizuki also happened to be a very studious person, though this was by necessity more than by choice. Modern powerplants and how they worked were taught in her classes.

The hydroelectric powerplant was beyond sophisticated, and despite the age of the facility, it was still operating perfectly. One wall was entirely made of dense yet clear glass, revealing extremely fast flowing water behind it. The water was going through a giant metal box that despite the rushing water and the glass wall, Akizuki could hear the sound of the machinery inside it. Large cables that pulsed with energy extended out of the box and into the room through the glass wall. They were connected to several other boxes that seemed to be distributing power to the facility. There were less dead people here than there was in the rest of the base, and Akizuki took the time to investigate everything closely. One console glowed with life. Upon removing a skeleton from it's position on top of it, much to Akizuki's disgust, it displayed a power map of the facility.

"What the heck?" She asked herself. Aside from the surviving lights she had been turning on, there was a large amount of power being channeled to the cell block area. Particularly a single large cell block. But what for? She gathered up her Choujuusenchihou-chans and proceeded directly to the cell rooms.

It was here that she vomited.

There wasn't much in her stomach, but it all came out anyway, spewing across the floor in a disgusting mess. The stench of decay hung fresh in the air and Akizuki had to cover her nose and mouth to prevent herself from breathing in the vile smell, coughing with her throat searing. Even then it burned the back of her throat more and tears sprang to her eyes. Lined up against the wall were cell blocks, holding chambers protected by fields of light blue force.

Inside were dead Kanmusu.

Dying of either dehydration or starvation, or possibly both, these girls still had their rigging attached to their bodies. Battleship cannons and destroyer torpedo tubes of varying caliber still carried their payloads, useless now. Without any carrion feeders to help decompose the corpses, the task was left to the slow working microorganisms. It didn't explain why everyone else in the facility was nothing more than bones, but the flesh of these corpses were still black and green from rot. There were dozens of cells, each one containing at least one dead Kanmusu, lining the right hand wall and on the left was another dense glass window spanning the length of the hall, revealing a huge empty test chamber. A portion of it was intentionally flooded and there were facilities for launching Kanmusu. A practice chamber?

It was then that Akizuki deduced the intent of the facility. It was a Kanmusu development facility. There was nothing else it could be. The papers with Kanmusu drawn on them? The research rooms, and now this? The people who ran the facility must have been doing experiments on Kanmusu. But it was not normal testing. Who imprisoned Kanmusu like this? These girls...some had their skeletal hands clasping the bars behind the forcefields, trying desperately to escape. Akizuki felt sorry for the girls. To die like they did was…..horrible.

Despite her urge to cry, she moved forward. At the end of the hallway was a much bigger forcefield that took up the entire end wall. Even though she guessed there was someone dead inside, it still warranted a look.

This cell however, appeared empty.

Akizuki frowned. Unlike the other cells, this one was at least five times the size of a normal cell and didn't have any furnishings like the other cells such as beds or sinks. Instead there was a single T shaped stand in the middle of the room. Huge gun pointed at the T stand from mounts on the wall and hanging above it was an unusually huge piece of equipment that she couldn't make out the details of due to the darkness of the room. The room was only lit by the blue forcefield.

Then she heard soft breathing coming from inside the cell.

She squinted, and once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she let out a gasp.

There was in fact, someone inside the cell. A boy.

She shined her searchlight inside the cell. There was the boy, shackled with huge irons to the T stand. He wasn't Japanese. In fact, he looked more American than anything else, but he was terrifying. He was taller than she was, dressed in a faded white shirt that was partially covered by the midnight black leather jacket he wore. Dark jeans and dark boots completed his lower half. His eyes were hidden by the black cap he wore, and on his hands were two fingerless black leather gloves. His breathing wasn't labored, but it was faint. Blood leaked from under the shackles bound to his wrists.

Akizuki wasn't sure what to do. He was obviously trapped and probably wanted those chains off, but she hesitated. First off she didn't know how to disable the forcefield. Second, one does not just release a man who has active defense systems pointed at him. He was clearly dangerous.

" _Are you going to kill me?..."_

All her thought processes stopped. The boy's voice was…..neutral. It contained neither anger, nor happiness. There was no inflection at all, no accent. Just neutral. Her Choujuusenchihou-chans shuddered and began to chitter softly.

'I'm uh…..uh…..I'm not going to hurt you." Said Akizuki. She wasn't sure what to say. He was quiet, but at least he could speak her language. Yet how do you talk to a prisoner in a situation like this?

 _"Okay."_

"What happened here, do you know?" Akizuki asked. Maybe he knew what happened here. The boy lifted his head, revealing eyes colored an ocean blue. But his face still bore no emotion.

 _"Black monsters came. They killed everyone here and ate the flesh from their bones. They couldn't reach the girls in the other cells. I listened to them as they slowly died. But I cannot die myself."_

"I'm….I'm sorry. I just woke up here myself. I washed up on the beach outside. I don't remember much of how I got here. Do you know how you got here?"

 _"I know nothing of the outside world. The only thing I know are these walls that keep me locked in here. Occasionally they would bring me to their big room to shoot at black monsters, but then they would lock me up here afterwards."_

"Oh I see...I really am sorry. For how long have you been here?"

 _"I don't know. I was the first one here. Soon others joined me. It has been a long time. I can barely even remember Sanuki's voice. She was perhaps the only friend I ever had. She would comfort me with words every time I would come back here from being tested. She suffered too much. I would comfort her too after she came back screaming and weeping, her arms bleeding and burned sometimes. She is right beside you now. I hope her passing was as painless as could be."_

Akizuki turned to the cell that was right next to this one. There was a girl, wrapped in blankets on the small bed set into the wall. Even though she was now half decomposed, Akizuki could tell she was once very beautiful. Tears sprung to her eyes again, but she wiped them away.

So the Abyssals came here. They were probably the black monsters the boy was talking about. It explained why everyone else here was nothing more than a skeleton while the girls were still rotting in their cells. Yuubari had once told her about Abyssal behavior and their policy on captives. If it couldn't be turned into another Abyssal, eat it. At the same time though it seemed like the Kanmusu had an even worse time here. The experiments that were done on them seemed horrible.

"That's...terrible. I never want to end up in a position like that." Said Akizuki. "Excuse me, but my name is Akizuki. I am an anti-aircraft destroyer. Do you have a name?" Akizuki asked the boy.

 _"The people in white always called me 797."_ He paused. _"But I liked Sanuki's name for me."_

"What was that name?"

 _"Oumi. She called me that because of my blue eyes. She said they were the color of the sea."_

"That is a nice name." Said Akizuki. "You are a Kanmusu too right?"

 _"I am not a female, but yes, I believe I am the first fleet boy."_

"Really?" Said Akizuki. "She had never heard of a boy becoming part of the fleet. All ships were girls supposedly. Then again considering the tests the people who ran the facility put the Kanmusu through, It wouldn't surprise her if she found some documents on using a male instead.

"Listen Oumi. Do you know of a way I can break you out of here? Maybe together we can get off this island and back home." She still wasn't sure if she could trust him, but he didn't seem like he was going to kill her.

 _"Are there people in white at this home too? I don't want to go to a place where there are more of those people."_

"Uhhh…" There was the admiral. He always wore a white uniform unless there was a special event or a day off.. "There is one man, but he is a really nice guy. He takes care of us all. There are a lot more Kanmusu where I come from and most of them are really friendly." Oumi's head dropped. He seemed to be thinking.

 _"Destroy the power plant. This facility uses hydroelectricity to power it. If you do that the forcefields should go down and the power going to these defensive turrets. You will find the powerplant in the eastern section."_

"I already found it." Said Akizuki. Oumi lifted his head. This time he was smiling slightly.

 _"You remind me of Sanuki. You seem very nice. I trust you to get me out of here."_ Akizuki blushed at the statement.

"I'll...I'll be going now." Said Akizuki. She turned and with her turrets, walked off back towards the powerplant.

She wasn't sure if what she was doing was right. But she didn't see any other options other than sit here and wait for her food and water supply to run out. There were no places where she could repair or if there were she hadn't found them yet, and she was in no condition to try escaping herself. Her only option was to trust Oumi. He probably knew the place better than she did. Perhaps there was a way off the island he knew that she didn't.

One way or another. It was time for a prison break.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Home**

Akizuki was grateful to leave the cell block. Her nose couldn't take much more of the rotting stench. She was determined to get out of this place, no matter what happened. But first there was something she wanted to do. She left behind all the experimental equipment, but perhaps someone would be grateful back home if she brought something back with her. In the main room, she began sweeping all the design plans for Kanmusu into her bag. Anything that was related to the development and design of these girls she jammed into the bag. Once she had grabbed all the papers, she sealed the overstuffed bag, tugging on the zipper as it tore several corners off of some of the papers. It bulged immensely, but it would hold. With that settled, she headed to the powerplant, sucking her thumb in thought. If she broke the huge glass wall, she'd flood the facility and drown both herself and probably Oumi. Seeing as he was her ticket off the island, that wasn't going to happen. But she was no computer technician. She had enough problems using the computers at the library back home. She couldn't deactivate the powerplant or reroute the energy in any way. This left her little choice in the matter.

"Choujuusenchihou-chan." Her turrets nodded. She backed up into the doorway, ready to run if need be. Her turret's spewed fire into the open doorway, their targets the generator boxes the cables were attached to. Several large explosions shook the facility as the boxes released the energy stored inside them. The humming sound that signaled power going to the base vanished. Electrical smoke billowed out into the hallway, causing Akizuki to cough madly. Her throat still felt very sore and adding smoke to the equation didn't work out well for her lungs. She felt her turrets clinging to her legs and she stumbled backwards, tripping on the doorframe and tumbling back into the main room. She lay there, without an urge to get up. Her body was already a wreck, and more than anything she desired to just fall asleep.

Then there was an inhuman roar and a rending sound of metal. She lifted her head slightly to see a dark figure coming down the cell block hallway.

"He's free."

Then her body decided to take a break from life on it's own. She smiled and blacked out.

* * *

"She's missing?"

"Yes sir. There was no confirmation of her death either. She could have sunk. No one remembers where she last was during the battle." Said Musashi.

Admiral Akiyama Hiroto let his face fall into his hands. So many casualties. If he had known the Abyssals had such a force there, he would never have sent as many ships as he did. Several months ago a large Abyssal force captured a strategic island in the northern Japanese waters. The Russians were still having trouble in the North sea and didn't have any of their battleships to spare. Instead Admiral Soma had offered a large force from his base to assist him in destroying the enemy. Just under 100 shipgirls had been part of the combined fleet, with forty-two ships being of his own.

Only 37 girls survived the operation and came back. Everyone else was either missing or dead. They took back the island, but it had cost them two carriers, including Hiryu and Katsuragi. Shinano had been severely damaged too. Only Taihou escaped undamaged. Most of the losses were destroyers and light cruisers, destroyed from behind by several battleship divisions that had somehow managed to outmaneuver them. They could probably recapture the lost girl's souls before the Abyssals turned them into enemies to supplement their forces, but that was still time they really didn't have. Japan needed more heavy warships. Their carriers were certainly their most powerful assets, but their huge resource consumption coupled with the amount of time the girls had to spend in the docks meant they were not suitable for day to day operations. The ops they needed to be assigned was mostly against enemy carriers. This meant that lighter fleets ended up encountering battleship divisions without much backup. Japan needed more long range heavy hitting warships, but they didn't have that many to spare. Admiral Soma had alerted him that Yamato had sustained critical damage in the defense of Akagi and Kaga, and both Kirishima and Hiei had been sunk. Nagato and Mutsu were laid up in the docks too,

Only Kongo, Haruna, and Musashi had escaped undamaged. Despite the numerous modifications he had made to his dreadnoughts, Ise and Hyuuga were not performing at the levels that had been predicted, and they were trying their very hardest to be the best battlecarriers they could be, but in essence they were just upsized Tone-class vessels, good for reconnaissance, not blending the carrier and battleship role together. Hiroto had no spare battleships either. Settsu, Mikasa, Kawachi, Fusou, and Yamashiro were all on expeditions to search for more resources.

His best air defense destroyers had been sunk, at the same time that there were more and more enemy carriers appearing. Hatsuzuki, Suzutsuki and Teruzuki had all been destroyed and Akizuki was missing. Given she was the weakest girl in the naval base and probably was going to be scrapped anyways, this wasn't a huge loss, but Hatsuzuki was his finest and she was gone now. Yoizuki had only just started training and wouldn't be ready for some time. And there was a lack of cruisers to train the destroyers at his base, most of which had been reassigned to Admiral Soma's base to assist in his fleet's reconstruction. The Michizuki subclass of the air defense destroyers was still in development and wouldn't be ready anytime soon. From now on he'd have to be extra careful with his fleet compositions. There wouldn't be any major offensives for some time.

Hiroto wiped his face. He had only been involved in the Kanmusu program for a few years and he was almost thirty years old. It pained him greatly to see the young girls return battered to his base, some still bleeding from the stumps that once had arms attached. It was worse seeing his girls carrying back the bodies of their fallen comrades. The biggest issue wasn't even the losses, it was morale. Soryu was in a complete funk after losing her sister to Abyssal bombers. The destroyers didn't even want to attend practices, instead lighting candles to float out into the harbor in memory of their fallen sisters.

"Damn those Abyssals to hell, damn them all." He desired someone to talk to. Musashi was a great secretary and she comforted him when he needed it most, but she was still a girl and there are some things that are just impossible to discuss with a girl because they would never understand. Hiroto was the only male present at the base almost all the time. He wished for another male friend that he could have shoulder the burden with him.

He hoped for one dearly.

* * *

The first thing that Akizuki felt when she regained consciousness was a pressure on her back. The salty ocean air stung her nose and she wrinkled it.

The ocean?

"Wait what the-!" She went from being worn out and tired to instantly awake. She fell out of Oumi's arms to land heavily on the water. She was in fact out at sea. The sun was actually shining brightly above her. All around her was the familiar wetness of the sea. She floated there, letting the cold water soak her battered form.

 _"Are you alright?"_

"Owwwwwww….." She wasn't sinking, but she couldn't move very well. Her damages were more evident once she touched water. Her whole body ached once again. She looked up at Oumi.

And her jaw fell in cold terror.

Seeing him inside the base was terrifying enough, but she recognized the rigging he wore now as the rigging that had been hanging above him when she found him chained up. He had four huge triple turrets that appeared to be bigger than Musashi-senpai's 46 centimeter guns, two mounted on his shoulders and two attached just below those guns. These were supplemented by a sixteen count of recognizable twin 10 centimeter guns of the same type as her Choujuusenchihou-chans. There were also several enclosed 25mm AA gun mounts, that were immediately visible. He had a small hand crossbow shaped similar to a catapult launcher and a katana hanging from his belt. There were small bolts sticking out of a leather pouch that was also attached to his belt. His huge funnel strapped to his back puffed black smoke into the sky, the same color as the paint that stained all of his gear. Her bag and equipment was slung over his shoulder and her twin turrets were riding on top of his shoulder mounted guns. He looked down at her with his face full of pain and concern.

"What the hell is that you are wearing?" Akizuki asked. Realization dawned on his face and he smiled slightly.

 _"Warship 797. I'm sorry I didn't explain this to you before. To be honest, I barely know anything about myself. The people in white decided that I could be "expanded upon" and they fitted me with these 51 centimeter guns. The stress my body feels is the worst. It's like someone is tearing at my soul with a knife constantly. I wasn't meant for this. It has been a long time since I have used this gear, so I am trying to get used to it again."_

She was awed. 51 centimeter guns dwarfed the firepower of Musashi's 46 centimeter cannons, and he had twelve guns compared to her nine. How could such a ship be even possible? Before she could think up a response, Oumi scooped her up back up into his arms. It was only then that she noticed something about his appearance. She originally mistook him for American, but now that it was bright outside and she was close to his face, he seemed to bear no nationality at all. He was devoid of the features that defined an American warship, but at the same time he lacked the features of a Japanese or British man. It was like he was a man without a country to call home. He was very pale however, most likely because he had probably never seen the light of the sun before. He appeared to be almost an adult, perhaps around the age of 17, which felt odd to her considering the battleships and fleet carriers all were either 18 or nearing their mid-twenties. He seemed too young to be a battleship, nevermind one as terrifying as he was. Her face flushed red.

"Umm why are you carrying me?" She asked.

 _"You are injured are you not? It would only hurt you if you tried moving on your own."_

"Do you know where we are going?"

 _"Our heading bears East. You were unconscious so I could not ask you where to go to bring you home."_ She sighed. She still felt really uncomfortable with the situation, but he was right, she wasn't in any condition to be moving around. Her last burst of energy back at the facility was probably just an adrenaline surge. Instead she wormed around in his arms trying to get comfortable. His leather felt nice and she realized for such a large battleship, he was keeping a pretty decent pace. She kept her eyes on the horizon for what felt like hours, trying her hardest to remember what had happened to her. Some of it had come back, but it was still foggy. She remembered that there had been a large battle that had involved many vessels from both her naval base and another larger base located at Kure. Other than that she had completely forgotten most of what happened. She still felt dizzy, and it was only once the island of Shikotan came into view that she decided she wanted to try sleeping again.

"Oumi. That's Shikotan Island. Turn south and follow the coast until you reach Yokosuka. You will know it when you see it. There will probably be more girls patrolling the waters near the harbor entrance."

 _"I understand. Get some rest if you can."_ His voice seemed always to be so low, but Akizuki felt like that line was slightly louder. Before she could put any more thought into it, sleep captured her. One thing was sure though, she felt very safe.

* * *

Taihou found herself staring out at the ocean from the docks. She had woken up after another night filled with nightmares. It had been two days since the operation and it would probably haunt her for a long time. She was very new to the fleet, and never before had she seen so much bloodshed. She understood why the Abyssals were to be hated. The sun was just beginning to rise and it cast its pinkish glow across the sea. Tears began to form in her eyes and she let her head drop. The color of the water reminded her of how the water looked after the battle, stained bright red. She had lost her only friend in that battle. Hearing she was designated MIA by Musashi tore at her heart, because MIA almost always meant sunk in the long run in this war. She desired nothing more than to tear out the cold spine of the abyssal who had sunk her.

An extremely loud and deep foghorn resounded from far away, breaking her out of her mourning.

Only just coming into view was a dark figure. Even in the dawning light of the sun, it was pitch black. Taihou squinted, trying to get a better view, but couldn't. She sat down, opting to wait instead. But the more and more she waited, the more she was terrified. It was clearly a Kanmusu, but she had never seen anything like it. Huge cannons jutted out in triple turrets, their barrels elevated upwards into the sky, which usually meant that the ship meant no threat, but it's imposing appearance didn't lend much credence to that. As it came closer, she realized it was actually a boy, who seemed to be carrying something big.

That was strange, a boy as a warship?

Perhaps out of fear, she started to back away from the edge of the pier. This man was quite a bit taller than she was and judging by the amount of armament that was present on his form, he clearly was designed with one purpose in mind. As the water licked the edge of the pier he stepped up, his weight cracking the edge as he levered himself up and over. Taihou struggled to keep the fear out of her face as the boy advanced towards her, but when she backed into the side of a building, there wasn't much to do.

But then the boy knelt down in the grass just in front of her and laid out the form of a peacefully sleeping girl under a brightening sky. For a moment, Taihou didn't recognize her. She was battered in many places, her clothes damp with water. She was covered in a light coat of soot and the injuries she had sustained were prevalent everywhere. The boy dropped a bag from his shoulder and two 10cm animated turrets chittered with delight as they jumped off of him and ran to give her a hug.

It was only once she saw the turrets that she recognized who it was in front of her.

"Akizuki?"

* * *

 **[Authors Note:**

 **Warship 797 was a planned Yamato class battleship, the fifth of its class after the framework of its sister, Warship 111 was laid down. Warship 797 was subject to numerous changes in its design following the experiences gained during World War two. The information wasn't easy to come by, but rather than constructing an advanced version of the Yamato class (Later referred to as the A-150 class) the Japanese planned to redesign the 797. Originally it was to be a Yamato class hull with 510mm twin turrets equipped, but then the design was changed to triple turrets. The advent of the Montana class ships design made the Japanese wonder if their untested 510mm guns would be viable as there was not much data to gain from this type of gun, so they increase the count again to 12 guns, lengthening the ship. After the experiences at Midway, the ship was also designed with the idea of fitting many 10cm guns (The same guns that were used by the Akizuki class) onto the ship as secondaries and primarily AA defense. The design was also heavily reinforced armor wise including a new type torpedo defense, a better protection of the citadel, and more armor protecting the superstructure and bow/stern. The ship probably would have displaced over 100,000 tones and there was no dockyard capable of handling such a massive warship, but nevertheless the Japanese dreamed on.]**


End file.
